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SC asks lawyer to back claim that sexual allegation case against CJI is a ploy

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked lawyer Utsav Bains to back his claims that three former employees of the top court had come together to frame CJI Ranjan Gogoi in the sexual harassment allegations.

The bench had convened on the matter after Bains in an affidavit alleged that he had been offered money by some powerful lobbyists to aid the ploy against the CJI.

The bench comprising justices Arun Mishra, RF Nariman and Deepak Gupta, will convene for a second hearing on the matter today.

The hearing: Wednesday’s hearing saw a heated exchange between Justice Nariman and Bains over the lack of evidence behind the claims of conspiracy.

The Attorney General rebuked Bains and expressed concerns as to why a person would file an affidavit of this nature but not produce evidence. The bench while directing Bains to file a second affidavit on Thursday said “it will inquire and go to the root of alleged claims of fixers at work and manipulating the judiciary.”

The three-judge special bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra also summoned the chiefs of CBI, Delhi Police and IB to their chambers over a probe in to the matter. The Court directed the chiefs to “seize the relevant material in order to support the contents” of Bains’ affidavit.

A simple ask: Meanwhile, activist-lawyer Indira Jaising told the Supreme Court that women advocates don't feel safe anymore in the top court and demanded a free and fair inquiry into the allegations of sexual harassment against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi.

“I am appearing in-person as a senior member of the bar. I wanted to convey that women lawyers don't feel safe anymore in this court. I am showing my anguish. I am with you on the free and fair inquiry. But there is more to be inquired," she told the bench.

Jaising said there should be an independent inquiry into the sexual harassment allegations against the CJI leveled by an ex-employee of the apex court.

PM Modi to hold roadshow in Varanasi today ahead of nomination filing

Ahead of his nomination filing on Friday, PM Narendra Modi will be holding a roadshow in Varanasi today. The roadshow will begin at 3 pm right after he garlands the statue of Banaras Hindu University founder Madan Mohan Malaviya and will conclude with the Prime Minister offering prayers on the banks of Ganga. He will be joined by BJP leaders like Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath and allied party leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Nitish Kumar.

On Friday, the PM is slated to hold a meeting with party workers before heading to the Collectorate’s office for his nomination filing.

The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested the wife of Rohit Shekhar Tiwari, son of the late veteran politician ND Tiwari, on charges of murder. Police said that Apoorva Tiwari, a lawyer practicing in the Supreme Court, killed her husband on account of a “turbulent and unhappy marriage”.

The investigation: From assumptions of a natural death due to alcoholism to postmortem report stating strangulation, the case has seen many twists before the spotlight came on lawyer wife.

Rohit Shekhar was brought to south Delhi’s Max Hospital on the evening of April 16, where he was declared dead on arrival. While initial reports suggested he had died of a heart attack, a police investigation suspected foul play.

It took four days for the Crime Branch and police officers to join the sequence of events and narrowed down on Shekhar’s wife.

During her interrogation, Shukla was confronted with facts and kept changing statements often. She even tried to mislead investigators by claiming that she might have accidentally strangulated Shekhar while they were getting intimate. She finally confessed to the crime.

The motive: It is said that Shukla had often taken issue with her husband over his closeness to his cousin’s wife.

A senior officer also said that Shukla revealed that her husband told her that the woman relative and he were sharing the same glass.

An ambitious woman, Shukla claimed to be the president of Indian National Trade Union Congress in Indore and had political aspirations but after getting married to Rohit Shekhar in May, she realised that he did not have much of a standing and his political career was not going anywhere.

In addition to this, Shukla was apparently angered over a property matter, which her lawyer has denied.

The Madras High Court on Wednesday lifted the interim ban on the Chinese-owned TikTok video app. The HC on April 3 had enacted the ban over concerns regarding “pornographic content”. TikTok’s parent company ByteDance had challenged the order on the grounds that such a ban was in breach of the right to freedom of speech. The court’s decision to vacate its order was made on the condition of proper safeguards. The judgement lifts the stay order by the Supreme Court, on the interim ban imposed by the Madurai bench earlier this month. The app will be available for download on Play Store and App Store very soon. Read about what TikTok India had to say about the initial ban and the regulatory steps they’ve undertaken here.

Udit Raj joins Congress after being denied ticket from North West Delhi, says BJP is anti-Dalit

After being denied a ticket from BJP, miffed leader Udit Raj joined the Congress party on Wednesday in the presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi. "I was one of the best performing MPs for BJP, I was a popular figure. But I was accused of influencing Dalits," he said terming the saffron party as anti-Dalit.

The BJP on Tuesday picked singer Hans Raj Hans as its candidate for North West Delhi, snubbing Udit Raj who had threatened to leave the party if dropped. "Had I not raised my voice for Dalits, I would've been made the Prime Minister," Raj said and added that several leaders including Arvind Kejriwal and Rahul Gandhi had warned him before. The sitting MP had come to be a part of the BJP in February 2014 after merging his Indian Justice Party. In the past few years, Raj had often taken views contrary to the party line, including on Sabarimala and ‘Bharat Bandh’.

Modi biopic a 'hagiography' that will tilt balance in favour of BJP, EC tells Supreme Court

In its report to the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has described Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s biopic as a “hagiography” that may disturb the level-playing field if it is released during elections. The commission has emphasised that the Vivek Oberoi-starrer can’t be termed as just a biopic but it is a movie that “eulogises a political representative”. Favouring the temporary ban, it also pointed out that the movie has shown opposition parties (Congress and others) in a "poor light". The Supreme Court will examine the EC’s report on April 26, and will take a call on the petition by the filmmakers, who have challenged the order of the EC to stall the movie.

'Mamata still gifts me kurtas': in Interview with Akshay Kumar, Modi says he has friends in oppn

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said he had several friends in the Opposition as he revealed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, one of his harshest critics, still sends him ‘kurtas’ every year. Modi, in a “candid” interview with actor Akshay Kumar, said: “It may affect me during elections but I can admit that Mamata Banerjee still gifts me kurtas... When Banerjee found out that Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina gifted me Bengali sweets, she also started to send me those.” The comment sparked controversy with Congress saying that it proved “Modi-Mamata’s friendly relationship. "Mamata Banerjee has not even once mentioned that while forming the government that she will not support BJP. She says Modi is bad BJP while Lal Krishna Advani is good BJP," state Congress president Somen Mitra said. Read more excerpts from Prime Minister’s interview.

Will chop off hands of those who raise fingers at BJP leaders, warns BJP Himachal chief Satpal Satti

BJP state president for Himachal Pradesh, Satpal Singh Satti at a public meeting in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh said that he would chop off the hands of persons who dare raise fingers at BJP leaders. "Our leaders are sitting on the dais. If anyone dares to raise their finger, we would chop their hands off. We are not nincompoops. We are not a group of stupid people," he said. Satti's latest remark comes after he was barred by the Election Commission from campaigning for 48 hours last week.

On Reel

Six of the original leads of the "Avengers" film franchise -- Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, and Jeremy Renner -- were honored with a handprint ceremony in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese Theater in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on Tuesday. Watch it here.